tapered head tube questions

[larryeverett]

If a bike has a tapered head tube, does that restrict what kind of fork you can get? Or will the head set take care of any issues mating old and new parts?

 

[Patrick]

there is an adapter to put a straight fork into a tapered frame -

goog for it - there are many - someone can probably say "use this one"

 

[extremedave]

Some technical stuff to check out below, but short answer is if the bike came with a tapered fork you should be able to use almost any threadless (aka current) fork. You may need a new lower cup/bearing and crown race (crown race goes on the fork) if you are going from tapered to straight. The upper is most likely the same.
The steerer tube length is a critical dimension if you are looking at say, a used fork. Also make sure it fits your current wheels.
Sorry to be kinda generic here. If you have any specifics post em up. The Cane Creek link is probably more helpful here.

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/headset-standards

http://www.canecreek.com/headset-fit-finder

 

[Schilling]

check this out:

http://problemsolversbike.com/

these guys have lots of great solutions. i use their eb46 bottom bracket which converted my pf30 to eccentric for singlespeeding.

 

[1speed]

Cane Creek headsets are available in "mix and match" where you can get the wider lower race with a standard head to retrofit a straight steerer to a tapered headtube. And their customer service is fantastic - I had a question about one I recently purchased and their rep walked me through everything. If you call them, all you have to know are the dimensions of the headtube and the fork model you want to fit.

 

[axcxnj]

i second the cane creek.

i recently had my niner frame replaced on warranty and i got a tapered headtube. i was able to get the specific upper and lower bearings separately to use my non tapered fork

 

[larryeverett]

Thanks yall. Nervous about buying a new fork for my 2010 rockhopper. I tend to buy the wrong thing at least once.

 

[qclabrat]

forks are a pricey upgrade, good to ask questions before buying

 

[larryeverett]

so my specific problem is the other way around. i have a straight 1-1/8" head tube and looking to see if a tapered fork will be a deal breaker.

 

[Mr.Moto]

so my specific problem is the other way around. i have a straight 1-1/8" head tube and looking to see if a tapered fork will be a deal breaker.

You will need a 1 - 1/8 straight steer tube fork. The taper fork won't work.

 

[TeamMuddySprocket]

so my specific problem is the other way around. i have a straight 1-1/8" head tube and looking to see if a tapered fork will be a deal breaker.

That would be a no go, 1 1/4" lower won't fit...

 

[larryeverett]

Thanks! That's what I figured.

 

[whoneedsbrakes?]

Does anyone know how the oversized headtubes for certain bikes, specifically the santa cruz chameleon, work? is that essentially a 1.5 in headtube that uses headsets that can accept any size?